KR100637472B1 - Secondary battery module - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a plurality of unit cells, a housing in which the unit cells are arranged and in which a cooling medium is distributed, and installed in the housing so as to minimize the weight of the battery module so as to increase the output to the weight. It provides a secondary battery module including a connection for fixing the unit cell placed between.

Unit cell, housing, connecting rod, vane

Description

Secondary Battery Module {SECONDARY BATTERY MODULE}

1 is a perspective view schematically showing the configuration of a secondary battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a schematic side cross-sectional view illustrating a rechargeable battery module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a secondary battery, and more particularly, to a cooling device for a battery module configured by connecting a plurality of unit cells.

In general, a secondary battery is a battery that can be charged and discharged unlike a primary battery that cannot be charged. In the case of a low capacity battery, a secondary battery is used in portable electronic devices such as a phone, a notebook computer, and a camcorder. It is widely used as a power source for driving motors of hybrid vehicles.

The secondary battery may be manufactured in various shapes, and typical shapes include cylindrical and rectangular shapes. The secondary battery may include the high output secondary battery so that the secondary battery may be used for driving a motor such as an electric vehicle. A plurality of secondary batteries are connected in series to form a large capacity secondary battery.

As described above, one high capacity secondary battery (hereinafter, referred to as a battery module for convenience of description throughout) is made of a plurality of secondary batteries (hereinafter, referred to as unit cells for convenience of description throughout the specification) connected in series. Each unit cell includes an electrode assembly having a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate interposed therebetween, a case having a space portion in which the electrode assembly is embedded, a cap assembly coupled to the case and sealing the protrusion, and protruding from the cap assembly. And positive and negative terminals electrically connected to the positive and negative current collectors provided in the electrode assembly.

In the case of the rectangular battery, each of the unit cells cross-aligns each of the unit cells such that the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal protruding from the top of the cap assembly alternate with the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal of the neighboring unit cell, and the threaded negative electrode terminal The battery module is constructed by connecting and installing a conductor between the anode terminals via a nut.

In this case, the battery module is configured to connect one to many dozens of unit cells to form one battery module, so that the heat generated from each unit battery can be easily discharged, and moreover, it can be applied to a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). In the case of secondary batteries, heat dissipation is of paramount importance.

Accordingly, the battery module according to the related art has a housing in which a cooling medium is distributed, and thus the unit cells are cooled by the cooling medium by disposing a plurality of unit cells in the housing at intervals.

In this case, the unit cells are connected to a plurality of units so as to be disposed in the housing to form a battery assembly. For this purpose, the unit cells are installed by using end plates and connecting rods tightening the end plates outside the stacked unit cells. The connection is fixed.

However, the conventional structure described above has a problem in that the weight of the battery module increases as components such as end plates for fixing the battery assembly are inevitably used in constructing the battery module.

As a result, it is difficult to reduce the weight of the battery module and a problem arises that the size becomes large.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a secondary battery module capable of increasing the output to weight by minimizing the weight of the battery module.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a secondary battery module capable of minimizing the size of the module.

In order to achieve the above object, a battery module according to the present invention includes a plurality of unit cells, a housing in which the unit cells are arranged and in which a cooling medium is distributed, and installed between both sides of the housing, between both sides of the housing. It includes a connection for fixing the unit cell placed in.

Accordingly, the unit cells can be arranged and fixed directly inside the housing without the need for a separate end plate for fixing the unit cells.

Here, the housing has a space portion in which the unit cell is loaded therein and is in communication with the space portion for introducing the cooling medium into the space portion, and the communication with the space portion to discharge the cooling medium through the unit battery For an outlet.

In addition, the battery module according to the present invention may further include a battery partition wall for separating the unit cells between each of the unit cells and circulating the cooling medium.

In addition, the connection part may include a bolt-shaped connecting rod penetrating both sides of the housing, and a nut fastened to the connecting rod to tighten the housing.

Therefore, the unit cells can be tightened and fixed by the bolt head and the nut of the connecting rod in a state placed between both sides of the housing.

The connecting rod may be installed at a predetermined distance from both sides of the middle point of the upper and lower unit cells disposed in the housing or the middle point of the unit cell.

Preferably, the connecting rod is installed through each corner of the space part of the housing.

On the other hand, the battery module according to the present invention is preferably such that each unit cell can be uniformly cooled by allowing a uniform amount of cooling medium to pass through the unit cells.

To this end, the present invention has a structure in which a vane for controlling the flow of the cooling medium flowing into or out of the housing is installed inside the inlet and / or the outlet.

In addition, in the battery module according to the present invention, the inlet is formed with an inlet of the temperature control cooling medium is formed between the inlet and the unit cells between the inclined guide surface for uniformly inducing the cooling medium to each unit cell is formed. At least one vane is preferably formed at intervals on the inclined guide surface.

Here, the inlet is disposed in a direction perpendicular to the unit cell so that the inclined guide surface is appropriately formed between the inclined guide surface and the angle between the unit cell toward the end of the unit battery.

In addition, the outlet portion is formed with a discharge port of the cooling medium for controlling the temperature and the inclined guide surface is formed so that the cooling medium passed through the unit cell uniformly between the unit cells from the discharge port, the vane is the inclined guide At least one formed at intervals is preferable.

Here, the outlet is disposed at right angles to the unit cell so that the inclined guide surface is appropriately formed between the inclined guide surface and the angle formed by the unit cell toward the end of the unit battery at the outlet.

Here, the secondary battery module is an energy source for driving a motor of the device in a device that operates by using a motor such as a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), an electric vehicle (EV), a wireless cleaner, an electric bicycle, an electric scooter, and the like. Can be used.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing the configuration of a secondary battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to the battery module according to the present invention with reference to the drawings, the battery module 10 is a large-capacity battery module, and includes a plurality of unit cells 11 are continuously arranged at regular intervals.

Each of the unit cells 11 includes an electrode assembly in which a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate are disposed on both sides thereof with a separator interposed therebetween, and is configured as a secondary battery having a conventional structure for charging and discharging a predetermined amount of power.

In this embodiment, the case where the rectangular unit cell 11 is used will be described as an example.

The unit cells 11 are arranged at intervals in the housing 20 through which air, which is a cooling medium, flows to form one battery module 10.

The housing 20 has a space 21 in which the unit cells 11 are arranged, and the unit cells 11 and the battery partition wall 12 are alternately disposed in the space 21. The battery partition wall 12 has a structure in which channels through which air for cooling air is distributed are formed at intervals, and flows in the air for cooling as well as inflows between the unit cells 11.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, the housing 20 is integrally formed with an inlet 22 for introducing cooling air between unit cells 11 inside the housing 20 at an upper portion of the drawing, and a unit cell at a lower portion of the housing 20. The outlet part 25 for discharging the cooling air which passed through 11 to the outside is formed integrally.

The inlet part 22 is opened at right angles to the unit cells 11 arranged at a predetermined interval in the space part 21 so as to introduce cooling air in the right direction of the unit cells 11. ) And an inclined guide surface 24 formed to be inclined downward toward the space portion 21 in the inlet 23 so as to guide the introduced cooling air between the unit cells 11 arranged vertically.

In the battery module according to the present invention configured as described above, the air flowing through the inlet port 23 flows in the inclined direction of the inclined guide surface 24 while touching the inclined guide surface 24 inclined at a predetermined angle. This is achieved, and passes along the inclined guide surface 24 toward the upper side of the unit cells 11. At this time, since the inclined guide surface 24 is disposed to be inclined downward as it moves away from the inlet port 23, the flow cross-sectional area of air decreases gradually as it moves away from the inlet port 23. The speed of travel becomes faster as it moves away from the inlet 23 by the continuous equation of fluid mechanics. This increase in flow rate, as can be seen by Bernoulli's theorem, results in a gradual pressure drop of the air, away from the inlet 23.

Therefore, the air flowing through the inlet 23 passes through the unit cells 11 at a constant flow rate based on the hydrodynamic principle. As a result, in the present embodiment, the flow rate of air passing through the unit cells 11 is the same as described above.

In addition, the outlet portion 25 is formed on the opposite side of the inlet portion 22 with respect to the space portion 21 as shown in FIG. 1 for discharging the air for cooling through the unit cell 11, An opening 26 is opened in a direction opposite to the inlet 23 and discharges cooling air in a direction perpendicular to the unit cell 11, and a space portion between the space 21 at the outlet 26. And an inclined guide surface 27 formed to be inclined toward 21.

As described above, the inlet part 22 and the outlet part 25 have a structure symmetrical to each other in a diagonal direction with respect to the space part 21.

On the other hand, the battery module 10 is connected to the outlet 26 of the housing 20 to supply and circulate the cooling air to suck air at a predetermined rotational force, and blows out the air into the interior of the housing 20 It includes a fan 50 to make. As an alternative, the coolant supply is not limited to having such a fan, but may also include a pump or blower, which is typically capable of blowing air.

According to the present embodiment, the space portion 21 of the housing 20 fixes the unit cell 11 therein through the connection rod 30 and the nut 31 passing through the space portion 21. It is structured.

That is, in the unit cell 11 fixing structure according to the present embodiment, the connecting rod 30 penetrates through the space portion 21 of the housing 20, and the nut 31 is disposed at the tip of the connecting rod 30. ) Is fastened to fix the unit cells 11 disposed in the space 21.

In more detail, as shown in FIG. 2, the unit cells 11 are arranged in a state in which the battery partition wall 12 is disposed in the space 21, and the unit cells 11 are disposed at the outermost side. ) Are in contact with the inner surface of the space portion 21 of the housing 20, respectively.

In addition, the connection rod 30 is fastened through both sides of the space portion 21 at the upper and lower portions of the unit cell 11 and passes through the space portion 21 to protrude out of the housing 20. The nut 31 is fastened to the tip of the rod 30 so as to be fixed.

FIG. 1 illustrates that a total of four connection rods 30 are fastened to the upper portion of the space portion 21 and two to the lower portion of the space portion 21 to fix the unit cells 11 arranged therein.

Of course, a variety of structures other than the above structure may be applied to the number or installation position of the connection rod 30, and are not particularly limited.

Here, the connecting rod 30 is a bolt-shaped structure, one end of the bolt head 32 is formed and the other end is formed of a screw thread is assembled through the nut 31.

Therefore, both side surfaces of the space portion 21 of the housing 20 are pressed between the bolt head 32 of the connecting rod 30 and the nut 31 fastened to the connecting rod 30, and thus the space portion 21. The unit cells 11 disposed between both sides are pressurized to be fixed in close contact with each other.

This structure allows the unit cell 11 to be completely installed by fixing the unit cell 11 to the housing 20 without fixing the unit cell 11 to a separate structure such as an end plate, thereby fixing the unit cell 11 together with the housing 20. Not only does it save you the trouble of installing an end plate, but it also provides the advantage of reducing the volume of the battery module.

Meanwhile, according to another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, the vanes 40 for evenly inducing the flow of air in the inlet part 22 and the outlet part 25 between the unit cells 11. This structure is further provided.

Here, the vanes 40 installed in the inlet 23 and the outlet 26 may have the same structure. Hereinafter, only the vanes 40 installed in the inlet 23 will be described. It will be understood that the vanes 40 installed in 25) are also the same as the description below.

The inlet 22 is a unit cell for the cooling air flowed in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the unit cell 11 is formed by the inclined guide surface 24 is formed between the inlet 23 and the space 21. The vanes 40 are installed between the inlet 23 and the space 21 to uniformly cool the air guided along the inclined guide surface 24. It is guided between the unit cells 11 arranged.

To this end, the vanes 40 are formed of a plate structure extending from the inlet 23 toward the space 21, at least one of which is arranged at intervals, and each vane 40 has the inclined guide surface 24. ) And the unit cell 11 are arranged at a constant angle.

That is, as shown in Figure 2, each vane 40 is arranged at a predetermined interval from the top to the bottom of the inlet 23 in the drawing and the angle of each vane 40 is the inclined guide surface 24 and the The angle between the unit cells 11 placed in the vertical direction is set to an angle divided evenly.

Accordingly, the angle of the vanes 40 located at the lowermost side of the inlet port 23 is augmented based on the horizontal direction in the drawing, and the angle of each vane 40 gradually decreases toward the upper side of the inlet port 23. .

Accordingly, the cooling air introduced into the inlet 23 is smoothly entered between the unit cells 11 placed under the vanes 40 and guided by the vanes 40 and the space 21 of the housing 20. A uniform amount of cooling air is circulated over the entire area, which is to maintain the temperature of each unit cell 11 uniformly.

As mentioned above, the outlet portion 25 also has the vane 40 having the above structure installed in the reverse direction, and cooling air passing through the unit cell 11 is guided toward the outlet 26 along the vane 40 to smoothly discharge. This will be done.

The above-described battery module of the present invention can be effectively used as a battery for HEV requiring high output / large capacity, but its use is not necessarily limited to HEV.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the claims and the detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings. Naturally, it belongs to

Thus, according to the present invention, by directly fixing the unit cell to the housing it is possible to minimize the volume of the unit cell and to reduce the number of components constituting the module it is possible to minimize the weight of the module.

Accordingly, the output of the battery module can be increased.

In addition, it is possible to smoothly distribute to each unit cell of the cooling medium has the effect of maximizing the cooling efficiency and thereby further improving the charging, discharging efficiency of the battery module.

In addition, the unit cells can be cooled uniformly.

Claims (15)

With a plurality of unit cells, A housing in which the unit cells are arranged and in which a cooling medium is distributed; A connecting portion having a connecting rod penetrating both sides of the housing and a nut fastened to the front end of the connecting rod to tighten both sides of the housing; Secondary battery module comprising a. delete According to claim 1, wherein the housing has a space in which the unit cell is mounted therein, the inlet for communicating with the space to introduce the cooling medium into the space, and the communication with the space is passed through the unit cell Secondary battery module including an outlet for discharging the cooling medium. The secondary battery module of claim 1, wherein battery partition walls are installed to separate the unit cells and distribute the cooling medium between the unit cells. The secondary battery module of claim 3, wherein the connection rods are installed at least one or more intervals at an upper end and / or a lower end of the unit cell. The secondary battery module of claim 3, wherein at least one vane for guiding a cooling medium is arranged in the inlet. The secondary battery module of claim 6, wherein the inlet is formed at one side and the outlet is formed in a diagonal direction with respect to the fixing part. The rechargeable battery module of claim 7, wherein the inlet comprises an inlet through which a cooling medium is introduced, and the inlet is opened in a direction perpendicular to the unit cell. The secondary battery module of claim 8, wherein an inclined guide surface is disposed between the inlet and the space part to be inclined downward as the distance from the inlet increases. The secondary battery module of claim 9, wherein the vanes extend along the inclined guide surface and are disposed at a uniform angle between the inclined guide surface and the angle formed by the unit cell. The secondary battery module of claim 3, wherein at least one vane for inducing a cooling medium is arranged in the outlet. The secondary battery module of claim 11, wherein the outlet part comprises an outlet port through which a cooling medium flows, and the outlet port is opened in a direction perpendicular to the unit cell. The rechargeable battery module of claim 12, wherein an inclined guide surface is disposed between the outlet and the space part to be inclined downward as the distance from the outlet is increased. The secondary battery module of claim 13, wherein the vanes extend along the inclined guide surface and are disposed at a uniform angle between the inclined guide surface and the angle formed by the unit cell. The secondary battery module of claim 1, wherein the battery module is for driving a motor.

Images